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Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters that every single passenger who booked a spot on the Boeing B777-200 aircraft had boarded the flight.

SEPANG, March 11 — Malaysian police refuted reports today that there were five individuals who had checked into MH370 but did not board the plane, appearing to suggest inconsistencies in information disseminated by investigators to the media.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters that every single passenger who booked a spot on the Boeing B777-200 aircraft had boarded the flight.

“There was no five passengers who checked in and did not board. Everybody who booked this flight boarded,” he said at a press conference at the Sama-Sama Hotel here.

According to previous reports, the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) had confirmed with the media that five people had checked into the flight but did not get on board.

DCA director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman reportedly said yesterday that the baggage of the five had been removed from the aircraft, which he said had passed standard checks at the check-in counter.

In the Gallery

A relative of a passenger of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 puts his palms together as he prays for his family member at the Lido Hotel in Beijing, March 10, 2014. — Reuters pic

A sign filled with well wishes to the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 reads ‘Have Hope’ at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

Deputy commander of Vietnam Air Force Do Minh Tuan looks at a map on a TV screen during a news conference about their mission to find missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at Phu Quoc Airport on Phu Quoc Island March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

A US Navy SH-60R Seahawk helicopter takes off from the destroyer USS Pinckney in the Gulf of Thailand, to assist in the search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, in this March 9, 2014 handout picture. — Reuters pic

Family members of passengers onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are seen in a car outside the hotel they are staying at, in Putrajaya March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

A family member of passengers onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cry inside a hotel they are staying at in Putrajaya March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

A relative of passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 questions an aid worker (centre left) from Malaysia at restaurant in a hotel in Beijing March 11, 2014. — AFP pic

Family members of passengers onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from Beijing arrive at Cyberview Lodge Hotel, the hotel they are staying at, in Putrajaya March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

Family members of passengers onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from Beijing arrive at Cyberview Lodge Hotel, the hotel they are staying at, in Putrajaya March 11, 2014. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng

Family members of passengers onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from Beijing arrive at Cyberview Lodge Hotel, the hotel they are staying at, in Putrajaya March 11, 2014. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng

A reflection of military officer Duong Van Lanh is seen from instrument panels as he works onboard a Vietnamese air force AN-26 during a mission to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 off Tho Chu islands March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

Malaysians write and hang their wishes for the passengers of missing MH370 on a card before hanging it on the ‘Wall of Hope’ located at the entrance of Pavilion shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur March 11, 2014. — Picture by Mohd Yusof Mat Isa

Malaysians write and hang their wishes for the passengers of missing MH370 on a card before hanging it on the ‘Wall of Hope’ located at the entrance of Pavilion shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur March 11, 2014. — Picture by Mohd Yusof Mat Isa

Malaysians write and hang their wishes for the passengers of missing MH370 on a card before hanging it on the ‘Wall of Hope’ located at the entrance of Pavilion shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur March 11, 2014. — Picture by Mohd Yusof Mat Isa

Malaysians write and hang their wishes for the passengers of missing MH370 on a card before hanging it on the ‘Wall of Hope’ located at the entrance of Pavilion shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur March 11, 2014. — Picture by Mohd Yusof Mat Isa

Malaysians write and hang their wishes for the passengers of missing MH370 on a card before hanging it on the ‘Wall of Hope’ located at the entrace of Pavilion shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur March 11, 2014. — Picture by Mohd Yusof Mat Isa

Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (centre) addresses a news conference on the two passengers who had travelled onboard the missing MH370 plane on stolen passports in KLIA, on March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

A policewoman holds up a photo of one of the two men whom they believe were travelling on board the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 on stolen passports after a news conference in Kuala Lumpur International Airport March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

A combination photo shows two men whom police said were travelling on stolen passports onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane, taken before their departure at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in this March 11, 2014 handout courtesy of the Malaysian Police. — Reuters pic

A Vietnamese officer stands next to a TV screen showing a flight route during a news conference about their mission to find missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at Phu Quoc Airport in Phu Quoc Island, March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

Deputy commander of Vietnam Air Force Do Minh Tuan (centre) gives a press conference at the search and rescue centre at Phu Quoc airport in Vietnam, on March 11, 2014. — Picture by Choo Choy May

Deputy commander of Vietnam Air Force Do Minh Tuan points to a map of the search area at the search and rescue centre at Phu Quoc airport in Vietnam, on March 11, 2014. — Picture by Choo Choy May

The search and rescue centre is based at Phu Quoc airport in Vietnam. Photo taken on March 11, 2014. — Picture by Choo Choy May

A Vietnamese helicopter taxies at Phu Quoc Airport before being utilised in the mission to find the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in Phu Quoc Island, March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

A helicopter lands after coming back from a search for the missing MH370 aircraft at Phu Quoc airport, on March 11, 2014. — Picture by Choo Choy May

Reporters doing an interview next to one of the planes that has just returned from a search for the missing MH370 aircraft, at Phu Quoc airport, on March 11, 2014. — Picture by Choo Choy May

A helicopter takes off from Jinggangshan warship to search the waters suspected to be the site of the missing Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in this March 11, 2014 photo courtesy of China News Service. — Reuters pic

A search boat carrying rescue workers is set down from Mianyang warship on the waters suspected to be the site of the missing Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in this March 10, 2014 photo provided by China News Service. — Reuters pic

Family members of passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vote to set a deadline for the company to answer their requests, including providing solatium without additional conditions, at a hotel in Beijing, March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

A journalist kisses Wan Tom Wan Chik, the mother of 33-year-old Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 passenger Mohd Sofuan Razak, after an interview at the hotel where relatives of the passengers are staying in Putrajaya March 10, 2014. — Reuters pic

A woman holds a sign of support and hope for the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 she made and brought to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic

“We removed their baggage. Every piece of baggage was recorded and given a unique serial number so that the correct baggage was removed from the aircraft,” he was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama.

Asked about the apparent contradiction, Khalid stood by his statement.

“Take it from me there were no such passenger... nobody booked tickets and didn’t board,” he repeated.

He added that the only passenger booked on MH370 but did not make the flight was “a female student”, referring to Jessica Yee Wai Ching, a MBA candidate at the Tsinghua University, in Beijing.

“The female student called Malaysia Airlines to cancel the ticket because she mistook the time of departure,” said Khalid.

Flight MH370 has been missing for nearly four days now since its departure from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 12.41am on Saturday.

The Beijing-bound aircraft was carrying 239 people onboard, including 12 crew members and two infants.